Ethics, health & safety at Work

Unit- V
Basics of ethics and fair treatment at work

Equal Employment Opportunity

Affirmative action
• A practice in organizations that goes beyond
discontinuance of discriminatory practices to include
actively seeking, hiring, and promoting minority group
members and women.
Adverse (disparate) treatment
• An employment situation where protected group members
receive treatment different from other employees in
matters such as performance evaluations and promotions.
Age Discrimination
• This act prohibits arbitrary age discrimination,
particularly among those over age 40.
Reasonable accommodations
• Changes to the workplace that allow qualified
workers with disabilities to perform their jobs.
Hostile environment harassment
• Offensive and unreasonable situations in the
workplace that interfere with the ability to
work.
Comparable worth
• Equal pay for jobs similar in skills,
responsibility, working conditions, and effort.
Glass ceiling
• The invisible barrier that blocks females and
minorities from ascending into upper levels of
an organization.
Measures and policies for employee safety at
work
• Management Commitment and Employee Involvement A first step
toward safety is a strong management commitment to providing a
safe and healthy workplace. Convincing employers to commit the
time, effort, and expense necessary to protect employees should
be easy considering the cost saving benefits, including:
■ Healthier employees
■ Reduced medical expenses
■ Better quality products
■ Increased productivity
■ Increased morale
■ Better labor/management relations
Worksite Analysis - Employers hold responsibility for
understanding what is necessary to keep workers safe from
harm.
Training for Employees, Supervisors, and Managers - Owners
and managers need to be sure that employees understand
possible workplace hazards and are trained in how to handle
them.
Indoor Air Quality - Unhealthy work environments are a
concern to everyone. If workers cannot function properly at
their jobs because of constant headaches, watering eyes,
breathing difficulties, or fear of exposure to materials that
may cause long-term health problems, productivity will
decrease. Consequently, creating a healthy work environment
is not only proper, it also benefits the employer.
The Smoke-Free Environment - The dangers and health
problems associated with smoking have been well
documented, and they translate into increased health
insurance costs. Furthermore, smokers were found to be
absent more than nonsmokers, to lose productivity due to
smoke breaks, to damage property with cigarette burns, to
require more routine maintenance (ash/butt cleanup), and
to create problems for other employees through second
hand-smoke disorders.
Repetitive Stress Injuries - Whenever workers are subjected
to a continuous motion like keyboarding, without proper
workstation design (seat and keyboard height adjustments),
they run the risk of developing repetitive stress injuries, or
musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
Employee assistance programs (EAPs) - Specific
programs designed to help employees with
personal problems.
Wellness programs - Organizational programs
designed to keep employees healthy.
 Overview of HR Analytics
• HR analytics is the application of a methodology and integrated process for
improving the quality of people-related decisions in order to improve
individual and organizational performance. Although HR analytics relies
on statistical tools and analysis, its most successful form involves much
more than that. At a minimum, analytics require high-quality data, well-
chosen targets, talented analysts, leadership, as well as broad-based
agreement that analytics is a legitimate and helpful way to improve
performance. 
• HR analytics involves both descriptive components, such as headcount,
time to hire, workforce demographics, and turnover. It also includes
predictive components—seeking to pinpoint those levers that could be
pulled to drive better business outcomes. Descriptive HR data is typically
put into context by using external benchmarking data. Predictive HR
analytics, on the other hand, identifies the unique aspects of an
organization’s work, learning and leadership environments that drive
business outcomes. This creates insights that cannot be obtained through
traditional benchmarking.
 When to Use HR Analytics 
• HR analytics is the go-to approach whenever leaders need accurate
statistics or fact-based predictions in order to make better business
decisions. In other words, there’s a role for HR analytics in every aspect of
the HR function, including recruiting, onboarding, training, development,
succession planning, retention, engagement, compensation, and benefits. 
• In a growing number of organizations, this analytic approach is beginning
to permeate every aspect of the HR function. 
• Although many are tempted to use HR analytics to “prove the value of
HR,” our advice is not to go down this path since it immediately calls into
question the credibility of any findings or recommendations that emerge.
In short, if executives believe the HR function is embarking on an analytics
project to justify itself or its programs, any results will be viewed with
suspicion—even if the analysis is done well.